Anorak

1970s

Posts Tagged ‘1970s’

Abominable Dolls: 13 Superbly Crazy Action Figures

A WHILE back, we brought you a list of action figure disappointments which featured the likes of a Love Boat and Grizzly Adams doll.  However, there’s a bunch more that didn’t make the list, but desperately need to be shared.  Plus, there are many that don’t necessarily fit into the “disappointment” category, but are nevertheless interesting and/or wildly insane.  So, here are 13 additional dolls and figures.  Enjoy.

 

action figure (13)

 

My only complaint about the O.J. Simpson doll is that the gloves that come with it don’t fit. (insert laughter) Bruno Magli shoes and white Ford Bronco sold separately.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 5th, May 2014 | In: Flashback, The Consumer | Comments (2)


1962-1977: The Wonderful Designs Of Sainsbury’s Own-Label Groceries

IN the 1960s, Sainsbury’s began selling own-label groceries. The packaging was marvellous:

Like these cornflakes from 1968.

 

Screen shot 2014-04-29 at 13.53.27

 

And these Ritz crackers:

Screen shot 2014-04-29 at 13.53.53

 

 

You can find out more in the book Own Label: Sainsbury’s Design Studio, 1962-1977:

In 1962, when Peter Dixon joined the Sainsburys Design Studio, a remarkable revolution in packaging design began. The supermarket was developing its distinctive range of Own Label products, and Dixons designs for the line were revolutionary: simple, stripped down, creative, and completely different from what had gone before. Their striking modernity pushed the boundaries, reflecting a period full of optimism. They also helped to build Sainsburys into a brand giant, the first real Super market of the time. This book examines and celebrates this paradigm shift, which redefined packaging design, and led to the creation of some of the most original packaging ever seen. Produced in collaboration with the Sainsbury family and The Sainsbury Archive, the book reveals an astonishing and exhaustive body of work. A unique insight into what and how we ate, the packaging is presented using both scanned original flat packets and photographic records made at the time by the design team. An essential book for graphic designers and those interested in the culture of consumerism, these designs remain fresh and relevant today. This feast of nostalgia taps into the fond memories of a generation brought up on these beautifully packaged goods.

 

Lard, ginger beer and wonderful pale ale (ask grandpa), via TrunkRecords:

 

lard

 

ginger beer

 

pale

 

Peas And Carrots 1970

Peas And Carrots 1970

 

 

The Creative Review noted Doxon’s vision:

“If you have a big batch of red labels one side and a big batch of green labels the other, then it’s best to design a white label with stark typography, which would then stand out from the other brands,” says Dixon of his approach to making sure shoppers noticed the own label goods on the shelves of its newly-opened ‘supermarkets’.

 

 

Broken eggs packaging, 1965

Broken eggs packaging, 1965

Biscuit assortment, 1967

Biscuit assortment, 1967

 

Bitter Lemon via LukeHoney:

 

bitter lemon

 

 

Egg packaging, 1964

Egg packaging, 1964

Sainsbury's Own Label Cola label, 1966

Sainsbury’s Own Label Cola label, 1966

Posted: 29th, April 2014 | In: Flashback, The Consumer | Comment


Tomes Of Shame: Awful Nonfiction From The 1970s

THE sad truth is, nonfiction garbage is hard to come by.  Libraries regularly cull their shelves, ridding the world of their outdated and tacky tomes.  Plus, how many people are going to display any one of these books in their home library and endure the subsequent deep and abiding shame?  Not many.  So, they end up on the trash heap, gone forever…. That is, until someone like me resurrects them (at least their covers) for your viewing enjoyment.  You’re welcome. 

 

1972 TFH Book - Dog Horoscopes

Dog Horoscopes (1972)

 

Your Horoscope for Today:  With Venus moving into gentle Pisces this week, you will feel a distinct urge to dry hump human legs.  You may even decide to accept a friend’s invitation to smell his/her anus.  The afternoon and evening brings the possibility of lots of indoor pooping. 

 

nonfiction (1)

How To Heal The Sick, Cast Out Devils And Still Go To Hell by R. W. Schambach (1976)

 

This book is fine, but I’m more interested in the companion volume: How To Live Selfishly, Enjoy Pornography, And Still Go To Heaven.

 

Enduring Poles by Natsolim (1977)

Enduring Poles by Natsolim (1977)

 

Finally, a guide to enduring those insufferable Polish people.

 

Subliminal Seduction by Wilson Bryan Key (1974)

Subliminal Seduction by Wilson Bryan Key (1974)

 

“Are you being sexually aroused by this picture?”

If your answer is “yes”, I think it owes more to your debilitating alcohol addiction than any advertising trickery.  Is this orange rind supposed to remind me of a flaccid and dismembered sex organ?  If so, then I am most definitely not aroused…. nor will I be for quite some time thanks to this.

 

More Lives Than One? by Jeffrey Iverson (1977)

More Lives Than One? by Jeffrey Iverson (1977)

 

In every life this woman was prone to staring blankly upward.  Nutty theories like this were rampant in the 1970s, here’s another…

 

sbs Helping Yourself With White Witchcraft - Al Manning - 1972

Helping Yourself With White Witchcraft by Al Manning (1972)

 

Among the many promises offered on the back:

How to use rituals and spells to attract money and prosperity!
How to use rituals and spells to attract and hold a lover!
How to ward off the Evil Eye and protect yourself against Secret Psychic Attack!

It says that the author was an accountant before he flaked out.  Personally, it’s hard for me to take a witch or warlock seriously with those kinds of credentials.

“Morgan La Fey, Enchantress, Tax Professional and Financial Advisor” just doesn’t work.  Neither does “Angmar the Witch King, C.P.A.”

 

Creative Firing by Chester Burger (1974)

Creative Firing by Chester Burger (1974)

 

In which we learn how to fire people via poetry or haiku.  Especially interesting is the chapter on creating beautiful watercolor paintings of nature scenes… all signed “you’re fired”, of course.

 

It Hurts So Bad, Lord! by Andrew D. Lester (1976)

It Hurts So Bad, Lord! by Andrew D. Lester (1976)

 

Yeesh.  This is just awkward.  Let’s move on…

 

Sex Therapist: My Story by Amanda Stewart  (1975)

Sex Therapist: My Story by Amanda Stewart (1975)

 

“Are the new sex therapists part of the legitimate medical community – or are they prostitutes?”

What in the ever lovin’ f**k?  Was this really a question?  I can understand if there was a healthy skepticism about this new profession; however, it seems a stretch to speculate that it entailed having sex for money. (But if it is true, I hope it’s not too late for me to make a drastic career change.)

 

Ripley's Believe It Or Not 19th Series (1972)

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not 19th Series (1972)

 

“Is she the bearded lady, or is she part porcupine, or what? [see back cover]”

Ummm.… why in the name of all this holy would you ever think she is the bearded lady?  For the curious, the back cover reads:

  “What she has on her face are ordinary toothpicks broken in half; for some reason, a light touch makes them cling.  Believe it… or Not!”

 

How to Really Love Your Child by Ross Campbell (1977)

How to Really Love Your Child by Ross Campbell (1977)

 

We know you’ve been faking it for a long time.  Now, it’s time to learn how to really love that brat.  And once you’ve figured that out, it’s on to that spouse of yours…

 

1970

How To Live With A Neurotic Wife by Stephen Baker (1970)

 

Well, it certainly makes things a lot easier if your wife happens to be a stone cold fox…

 

neurotic wife2

 

The back cover reads “The author and his (non-neurotic) wife.”

First of all, Stephen Baker obviously used Al Manning’s White Witchcraft to make this happen (there can be on other explanation).  Second, I’m not thrilled with his cocky grin.  We know you did well for yourself, Stephen.  No need to gloat.

Posted: 28th, April 2014 | In: Books, Key Posts | Comment


Slacks Relapse: A Look At Chick Pants Of The 1970s

vintage slacks (1)

 

OTHER than a brief Capri pants fad during the early Sixties, women rarely wore pants in public. It was dresses and skirts only. Then the Women’s Liberation movement hit its stride in the Seventies, and the ladies started to get in on the pants action. Just as the miniskirt had been a proclamation of the youth culture, pants became a proclamation of gender equality. If men can wear hideous corduroy bell-bottoms, by God, the women can too!

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 22nd, April 2014 | In: Fashion, Flashback, Key Posts | Comments (3)


1970-1975: The FA Cup Third Place Playoff Experiment

BACK in the Pre-Premier League days, the losing FA Cup semi-finalists competed to see which one of them qualified for a non-existent bronze medal and the other nothing. The match lasted just five years, played between 1970 and 1975.

Initially, the game was played at a neutral ground, lending it the aura of a real Cup Final. At the inaugural Cup, played one day before Chelsea and Leeds United contested the final at Wembley, Manchester United beat Watford 2-1 at Highbury. The crowd was 15,105.

Was that encouraging? Footballfansite has transcribed the Arsenal programme notes from that, which explain how the match came to happen:

THIS is the eleventh occasion we have staged a match for the Football Association on the eve of the F.A. Cup Final, and this time the fixture takes a new form. The idea of a match on this particular date on the football calendar first came about in 1954, it being felt that with people descending in thousands on London en route to Wembley the following day, many of them would welcome a game at which to spend the eve of the Final.

So, 16 years ago, England met Young England here on this corresponding night, and a crowd of 43,000 gave full justification to the experiment. The following year the title was changed to Old England v Young England (the old ‘uns cheered to a 5-0 victory by 38,000), but except for 1963 when the match was styled England v The Football League the fixture became permanently one between England and Young England. On five occasions it switched to Stamford bridge, but otherwise it remained at Highbury.

Inevitably what was basically a friendly representative match could not retain all its early novelty appeal, and after last season’s 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge, watched by just over 18,000 spectators, the F.A. decided the time had come to change the style of the fixture. Among suggestions thrown up was a North v South match – that particular argument seems to have been going on among football fans since the game began! – but the idea to gain favour was to stage a “play-off” to decide third and fourth places between the two beaten F.A. Cup semi-finalists.

Tonight’s game is the first such fixture, and with it we have, in any case, a North v South clash, just as there will be another at Wembley tomorrow between Leeds United and Chelsea. Whether this becomes a regular fixture will, presumably, how well the fans turn out to support it……

 

 

Everton's Alan Whittle (r) beats Stoke City's goalkeeper Gordon Banks (l) to score Everton's first goal of the night. Stoke City went on to win the match 3-2 in front of just over 5,000 fans.

Everton’s Alan Whittle (r) beats Stoke City’s goalkeeper Gordon Banks (l) to score Everton’s first goal of the night. Stoke City went on to win the match 3-2 in front of just over 5,000 fans.

 

One year on and Stoke took on Everton. To further entice paying punters, the game was played one day before Arsenal played Liverpool on May 8. The footy-starved neutral and fans of the two finalists would surely lap it up. Well, that was the plan. But only 5,031 turned watched the game at Selhurst Park.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 18th, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Sports | Comment


10 TV Shows That Time Forgot

forgotten tv shows (8)

Working Stiffs (1979) starring Jim Belushi and Michael Keaton

 

WITH every fall season in the US comes another batch of TV shows doomed to failure. The history of American television is littered with roadkill – most of which we have collectively forgotten. Well, no longer. I have personally scooped up the scattered remains of nine TV shows to share with you.  It won’t be pleasant, but you can feel good that it’s all in the name of historical preservation.

 

 

Co-Ed Fever (1979)

forgotten tv shows (4)

Animal House was such a big hit at the box office, TV networks thought they could translate that frat house magic for the small screen. They were horribly, horribly mistaken.

ABC’s Delta House was cancelled quickly, but that was nothing compared to Co-Ed Fever which was cancelled after one – count’em ONE – episode!

 

 

 

Turn On! (1969)

Of all the shows that bear the dubious distinction of being cancelled after one episode, the most infamous is the Laugh-In rip-off called Turn-On. It premiered a year after Laugh-In and was actually cut mid episode for being too raunchy. It is the shortest running TV show ever. Complaints poured in as the show was running, and the executives actually decided to pull the plug on the series within the first 17 minutes.

 

 

 

All That Glitters (1977)

forgotten tv shows (1)

Norman Lear (All in the Family, Mary Hartman, Good Times) once again tries to push the envelope. Here we have women who work for a powerful corporation, Globatron; meanwhile, the men are portrayed like 1950s housewives. Oh, so very controversial. Did I mention Linda Gray plays a transgender character?

I think the “testing the limits of convention” shtick had worn thin by the end of the Seventies. People got tired of being challenged, and just wanted mindless entertainment. Thus, All That Glitters was an abysmal failure, and the A-Team a triumph.

 

 

Perhaps the worst thing to come of this train wreck is Neil Diamond’s “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.” When Norman Lear decided against using it as a theme song, Neil took it to Babs for a duet. Sadly, she agreed, and mankind has been haunted by this sapfest forever after.

 

 

 

What a Country! (1986)

 

forgotten tv shows (1)

Remember Yakov Smirnoff? He was the exceedingly not funny Russian comedian constantly pointing out the differences between the US and Soviet Union. His sitcom was the same miserable punchline repeated over and over of misunderstandings of American culture.

“At the grocery store: “Powdered milk, powdered eggs, baby powder . . . what a country!”

Somebody kill this man.

 

Bridget Loves Bernie (1972)

 

David Birney and Meredith Baxter

David Birney and Meredith Baxter

 

The production company, Screen Gems, had been churning out light-hearted sitcoms throughout the Sixties with great success (I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, The Flintstones, Hazel, Gidget, Hazel, Dennis the Menace). Now it was the Seventies – time to get serious and topical. Screen Gems put away childish things and tried for something akin to All in the Family. Bernie is a Jewish cab driver and his wife, Bridget is an Irish-Catholic. Hilarity ensues!

 

 

Not surprisingly, the show was a flop and Screen Gems folded and absorbed into Columbia. Even worse, American audiences had their feathers ruffled and Jewish and Catholic groups publicly panned it. The difference: All in the Family openly tried to be confrontational, and people were happy to take a ride through its hazardous terrain; whereas, Bridget Loves Bernie tried to act like Bewitched, like nothing was difficult to swallow, meanwhile playing the card of being “edgy” by having an interfaith marriage.

To add to the mess, the show wasn’t even remotely funny, and the characters were wholly unlikable. Ultimately, the show was doomed anyway. Bernie thought he was too good for television, and eventually Meredith Baxter would publicly reveal he was abusive to her. A disaster in every conceivable way.

 

 

I Had Three Wives (1985)

 

forgotten tv shows (2)

Unfortunately, they aren’t his wives all at the same time – that might’ve actually been interesting. Instead, we get a douche bag detective and his three hot ex-wives (who, let’s face it, never would have been attracted to this loser in the first place). Predictably stale hi-jinx ensue.

 

When the Whistle Blows (1980)

 

forgotten tv shows (3)
Synopsis: Unfunny construction worker misfits commit tomfoolery much to the chagrin of their even less funny bosses. Even copious amounts of eye candy in the form of Susan Buckner couldn’t save this dud.

Here’s an episode complete with original commercials entitled “Miss Hard Hat USA” guest starring Barbi Benton.

 

 

 

Shadow Chasers (1985)

 

forgotten tv shows (7)

Of the 106 shows on the 3 big US networks in the 1985-86 season, Shadow Chasers finished dead last. It was up against a couple heavy hitters, Magnum PI and The Cosby Show, so maybe it deserved better. The series was created by Brian Grazier (Imagine Entertainment co-founder and the man behind Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind). So, perhaps it had potential – although, this clip seems to prove otherwise….

 

 

 

The Two of Us (1981)

 

forgotten tv shows (5)
A single mother places an ad for a housekeeper, and who should answer but Peter Cook. What follows is an endless stream of jokes highlighting the differences between stereotypical British culture and stereotypical American culture. It’s so tiresome and predictable it’ll have you yearning for Yakov Smirnoff…. and I don’t need to tell you that if you’re yearning for Yakov, you’re in a very dark place indeed.

 

Posted: 16th, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comments (7)


George Davis Is Innocent: The 1970s Campaign That Proved The Police And State Were Not OK

ON August 19, 1975, the third England v Australia Test at Headingley was abandoned following vandalism. A man who said he was a supporter of the George Davis campaign telephoned BBC radio London and claimed the group was responsible. Slogans were daubed outside the ground and the wicket was vandalised with a bit of digging and poured oil.

 

 

PA-4929980 (1)

 

The Test was declared a draw robbing England of the chance to win back the Ashes and the trophy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 13th, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts | Comment


Dial M for Music: 4 Records And Their Tales of Murder

HERE are four albums which serve as starting points to murder stories. They range from factual to dodgy at best, but they are all interesting. The four stories include: (1) A Sonny Bono wannabe turned nurse killer, (2) an ex-stripper ventriloquist who witnesses the JFK assassination, (3) a fairy tale turned horror story, and (4) an urban legend of a screaming nude cover model that just won’t go away. Enjoy!

 

THE JON & ROBIN ELASTIC EVENT (1967)

 

jon and robin

 

Jon & Robin were your standard pop duo of the late Sixties, specializing in groovy bubblegum psychedelia. Jon’s dad owned the record label, Abnak Records; so, naturally, his son was first in line to a recording contract (big mistake). I suppose dear-old-dad wanted them to be the next Sonny & Cher, but, alas, it was not meant to be. “Do it Again a Little Bit Slower” (1967) reached #18 in the US, but proved to be their only whiff of success.

 

 

The duo split up shortly thereafter, and poor Jon tried to continue his music career resulting in one failure after another. This ultimately contributed to his mental breakdown and he was checked into Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas. This is where fact and fiction intermingle, but the story goes that Jon starting getting it on with a psychiatric nurse. After he was released, they moved in together and started a new chapter in Jon’s life. Unfortunately, that new chapter is entitled “The Prison Years” because Jon murdered her.

.. so, there’s that information. Onward to the next murder.

 

ERICK & BEVERLY MASSEGEE ‎– AMEN! (1974)

massegee album

 

This Beverly Massegee LP has become something of an all-star in the world of bad album covers, but the biggest oddity surrounding this album is not the strangeness of the record, but Beverly herself. Many believe she is actually the Babushka Lady – the woman who filmed JFK up close at the very moment he was assassinated!

Beverly Oliver (maiden name) was once a friend of Jack Ruby, the man who shot Lee Harvey Oswald. Beverly was a singer (and possibly a stripper) at Ruby’s Carousel Club and the adjacent Colony Club. According to her own account, Beverly claims she accompanied Jack Ruby to New Orleans where she met Mafia bosses and was introduced to Lee Harvey Oswald, a friend of Ruby’s (!).

Beverly states that she was the infamous and mysterious Babushka Lady, the closest witnesses to the fatal shot that killed President Kennedy. Further, she claims that she filmed the event, but three days later two men who identified themselves as government agents confiscated her film and never returned it. Here’s an old video of Beverly breaking it down for us…

 

 

Unfortunately, much of this is considered nonsense by JFK assassination “experts”. However, it should be noted that Beverly married a pastor and found Jesus, which means all of this must be true, right?

 

CLAUDINE LONGET – THE LOOK OF LOVE (1967)

 

3715272648_b596d77180_o

 

Claudine’s early years read like a fairy tale. She was a Vegas showgirl working for Barbara Walters’ father. One day, her car breaks down and she’s picked up by none other than Andy Williams. Marriage, wealth, a family, a recording contract, and an acting career soon followed. It would seem. Claudine Longet had everything a woman could ever want.

The couple were even good friends with Bobby Kennedy. In fact, they were supposed to go to a disco with him the night he was killed. Senator Kennedy told Andy and Claudine that he would make a “little hand gesture” at the end of his televised primary victory speech to let them know he could make it to the disco. The couple watched Kennedy’s speech from their Bel Air home, and when the gesture was made the two hopped out of bed to get ready to head to the disco…. then they heard the shots ring out. Three days later, Andy was singing at his friend’s funeral. The couple would name their 3rd child “Bobby”.

 

AndyWilliamsWife

 

That was 1968…. by 1970 they were legally separated. Claudine and the three kids moved in with the famous Olympic skier, “Spider” Sabich. He was handsome, talented, and had become quite a popular figure. Robert Redford even played him in a movie (Downhill Racer). But this is where the fairy tale ends. The relationship became tumultuous and in 1975, Spider was fatally shot in the abdomen by Claudine.

Claudine claimed the gun discharged accidentally, and was charged with only negligent homicide. The fact that she was high on cocaine never made it into the trial, nor was the fact that their relationship had become hostile. Subsequently, Claudine spent only 30 days in jail.

 

 

THE OHIO PLAYERS – HONEY (1975)

 

honey

 

The 70s funk band, The Ohio Players, weren’t exactly known for their family-friendly album covers. Their most notorious is the Honey album which featured a completely naked model (visible when you fold open the cover) shown from the side on the outside cover, and in a much more explicit position in the interior. Legend goes that this girl was brutally murdered and her screams can be heard in their song “Love Rollercoaster”.

 

 

 

Of course, urban legend debunkers have proved this to be complete bullshit. However, it’s a lot more fun to speculate, and you never really know, do you? As to exactly how she was killed and how the screams ever got recorded depends on who’s telling the story. One thing is for certain, the scream sounds completely out of place. It’s blood curdling – not something you’d expect to hear in the background of a lively funk song. The cherry-on-top to this urban legend is that the photography for the album cover was conducted by Richard Fegley, who had also photographed Sharon Tate (insert dramatic music)

One variation of the story goes like this:

The Ohio Players spot a runaway on the street corner and use her for on their album Honey. The album cover depicts the model nude and kneeling in glass while drizzling honey all over herself. The glass was actually fiberglass, and when it mixed with the honey caused the fiberglass to be bonded to the girl’s legs. She tried tearing it off of her legs, but only succeeded in tearing the skin off. She runs into the studio where the band was recording “Love Rollercoaster”. She was screaming at them, claiming she would sue them for everything they were worth. The band’s manager then dragged her outside the studio, and murdered her. Her screaming was audible, even outside the studio, and the band left the sound there as “a sick tribute”.

Sure, this is obviously bologna, but it’s a lot more interesting the much more probable claim that the screams are by the band’s bassist and the model is Ester Cordet. Cordet was a stewardess at the time and the October 1974 Playmate of the Month. Today, she is happily married to a smarmy motivational speaker and self-help author, Robert Ringer. Yuck. Sometimes reality is such a bummer.

Posted: 9th, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comment


Chicks Dig Accordions! Vintage Vinyl and Squeezebox Groupies

accordion groupie

 

TO HELL with the electric guitar.  That may attract a flock of dirty groupies, but the real chick magnet is the accordion.  Sure, it has a reputation as being even less sexy than a French horn, but don’t believe the hype.  A look at this stack of old accordion LPs, and you’ll quickly see that the instrument of desire isn’t the guitar, drums or microphone, it’s the mad love machine called The Accordion.

(Lots more vintage gold on Flashbak.com)

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 4th, April 2014 | In: Key Posts, Music | Comments (3)


5 Sci-Fi TV Series Scuttled by Second Season Changes

badchanges1

WE might accept as axiomatic the belief that patience is a virtue. However, over the decades, several notable and even celebrated science fiction TV series have failed to live up to this ideal.

Instead of demonstrating patience and prudence, their makers have instead demonstrated radical impatience, and — after promising first season sorties — instituted sweeping changes that, in some cases, threw away the baby with the bath water.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 3rd, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, TV & Radio | Comments (7)


1978-1995: When Theodore John Kaczynski Was The Heroic Unabomber

ON May 3 1996, Theodore John Kaczynski, 53, had his mug shot taken by7 the Lewis and Clark County Jail in Helena, Montana. Kaczynski had been taken into custody at his mountain cabin north of Helena as a suspect in the Unabomber bombing spree.

 

PA-13798716 (1)

 

 

The man called the “Unabomber” had killed three people and maimed 23 others with parcel bombs. His first known device exploded in 1978 and the last, killing California Forestry Association president Gilbert Murray. His campaign had continued to his most recent bomb in 1995. His final bombs was his 16th.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 3rd, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts | Comment


Before They Went Solo: Early Bands Of Bowie, Elton And Others

Billy Joel's hard rock duo - Attila

Billy Joel’s hard rock duo – Attila

 

MUSICIANS like Billy Joel and Elton John didn’t start out as solo acts. Like nearly all solo pop stars, they began as just another member of a band. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at musicians who we primarily identify as being solo acts and see what bands they were in before venturing out on their own and making it big.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 3rd, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comments (2)


10 Revolting Packaged Foods That Taste Of Regret

STROLLING down Memory Lane on the way to Anorak Towers, we came across an old advertisement for Spangles – the sweet signifier of choice for lazy peddlers of nostalgia.

But instead of invoking it alongside Chopper bicycles and Spacehoppers, it invoked an earlier, less innocent time, when germs were everywhere, and the role of confectionary packaging wasn’t simply to announce the Old English delights within, but to keep dirt out. ALL dirt. Yes, that includes you, Foreign Dirt, coming over year and contaminating our indigenous flavours.

 

image

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 2nd, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, The Consumer | Comment


Regrettable Reads: A Stack Of Objectively Bad Vintage Books

feminists

 

THEY say not to judge a book by its cover, but I think it’s pretty safe to say all of these books are horrible without ever turning a page.  That being said, it’s sometimes fun to check out some good old fashioned paperback trash  – so let’s have a look.

 

NAKED BRUNCH

 

naked brunch

 

Perhaps this is a prequel to the William Burrough’s classic, Naked Lunch.  I suggest, then, a third volume called Naked Supper and make it a trilogy.

 

 

THE MAN WHO SAID NO

 

oxymoron

 

You mean they actually found the guy who said no to sex?  I thought it was just an urban legend……. Oh, wait…. I’ve just been informed it’s a false alarm.  He didn’t say “no”; he was merely clearing his throat.  It’s all been a big mistake.  False alarm.

 

RONALD REAGAN: A MAN TRUE TO HIS WORD

 

reagan

 

My favorite part of Ronald Reagan: A Man True To His Word is when the president sells arms to Iran then uses the cash to fund the Nicaraguan rebels.  Don’t miss the exciting climax when he completely denies it.

 

 

INCLUDED OUT

included out

 

“Suspecting Linnie’s affairs with the others, Chris’ vanity couldn’t accept the thought of being included out because of his age.”

I think the word they’re looking for is “excluded”.  Somebody get Mary S. Gooch a dictionary pronto.

 

 

I WAS A TEEN-AGE DWARF

dwarf

 

No offense to those short of stature, but this title puts the vertically challenged on par with being a werewolf or Frankenstein.  (Note: This is a Dobie Gillis novel, so it was actually pretty popular in its day.)

 

 

KISS MY FIST!

 

fist

 

Damn! Those hardboiled pulp fiction novels could get to be pretty brutal, but this is extreme.  Just be glad I didn’t show you the back cover where he karate chops a kitten.

 

 

SWEET DADDY: THE STORY OF A PIMP

 

story of a pimp

 

I think there’s been a mistake.  The title should read something like: Sweet Daddy: The Story of a Tax Attorney.  I’m no authority on pimps, but I think they could have chosen a guy who looks a lot more “pimp like”.

 

 

BURT REYNOLDS HOT LINE: THE LETTERS I GET AND WRITE!

 

reynolds

 

I doubt Burt even noticed the naked woman attached to his backside. In the 1970s, nude females collected on Burt’s body like barnacles. Lucky bastard.

 

 

COUCH OF DESIRE

 

couch

 

Forget 50 Shades of Grey, I recommend Couch of Desire (truthfully, it’s probably written better). But if the eroticism is just too extreme for your tastes, I suggest the much lighter read, Beanbag Chair of Friendship.

 

 

GOOD NIGHT SWEET DYKE

 

dyke

 

A perfect end to our reading list of shame.  Good night, dear reader.

Posted: 2nd, April 2014 | In: Books, Flashback, Key Posts | Comment (1)


These 1970s Onesie Bodysuits Got Men ‘Into Something New’

MEN’S fashion is an endless source of point-and-laugh fun. In this instalment, we hard back to the 1970s, wherein the Onesie For Him was knocking them bandy in the boardroom and bedroom.

Do say: With your Onesie, you look macho and more ready for action than an aroused Playgirl stud. Nice moustache.

Don’t say: Ha-ha. It’s a babygro, you muppet!

 

Screen shot 2014-04-01 at 08.19.36

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 1st, April 2014 | In: Fashion, Flashback | Comments (2)


Spoonfuls of Horror: The Worst Breakfast Cereals Of All Time

grapefellow

 

THE worst cereal of all time, for me, has always been Grape-Nuts (AKA aquarium gravel). Yet, as I grew older, I actually came to like these granular pellets which look like they belong at the bottom of a fish tank. Tastes evolve.

I say this to underscore the fact that this list is purely subjective. Yet, it’s still fun to poke through the vast arrays of breakfast cereals from years past and single out the worst of the worst. I apologize up front if I am besmirching your cherished childhood favorite, but it simply must be done.   And so here they are – the definitive list of the absolute worst breakfast cereals of all time (in no particular order). Enjoy.

 

1. Triple Snack (1963)

I’m not sure about the idea of roasted peanuts in cereal. Almonds are fine, but you start tossing roasted peanuts into the mix, and things get weird.

 

2. Pink Panther Flakes (1973)

The corn flakes were bubblegum colored, which is bad enough, but the cereal became notorious for rapidly losing its color. Almost as soon as the milk hit the flakes, the bubblegum color ran off, leaving behind soggy albino flakes. Your breakfast started so full of promise, with the brilliant pink hue signaling good tidings ahead. Fast forward a few seconds, and you’re eating your soggy albino flakes in quiet disappointment.

 

3. Donkey Kong (1982)

The taste was not bad; it was the texture that presented problems. Many will recall the “barrels’ scraped the roof of your mouth like a mouthful of broken glass. To be fair, after repeated spoonfuls, your throat and mouth would swell and become inflamed enough to no longer feel the sharp pain. So, enjoying the cereal wasn’t entirely impossible.

 

4. Punch Crunch

“Little pink rings with a big pink flavor just like fruit punch… a dandy part of a nutritious breakfast.”

At what stage of desperation do you have to be in to attempt a punch flavored cereal? Was Captain Crunch suffering from scurvy when he concocted this vitamin C inspired cereal? It would seem to be the only rational explanation.

 

5. Sir Grapefellow (1972)

There are just certain flavors that don’t belong in a cold milk cereal. Thus, as much as we may happen to like bacon and pizza, it doesn’t mean they will make for good cereal flavorings. Someone should have told General Mills that grapes fall into that same category.

 

 

6. Corn Flakes with Instant Bananas (1964)

 

corn flakes bananas
This one was discontinued in ’66 due to problems with the preservation and freeze drying of the bananas. Apparently, Kellog’s hadn’t yet perfected the fancy carcinogenic preservatives and dyes we all take for granted today. Upon the addition of milk, the “bananas” turned into shriveled bits of brown before your very eyes. Had the box prepared consumers and perhaps been labeled “Corn Flakes with Shriveled Bits of Brown” instead, things might’ve been different.

 

 

7. Smurf Berry Crunch

Aside from the fact that many recall a distinct iodide smell, the primary problem was what happened after it was consumed. Evidently, Smurf Berry Crunch turned your poop a brilliant purple. While that may have been a “plus” to many consumers; for most, violet poop was an unwanted side effect.

 

 

8. Norman (1971)

 

NORMAN
Very little information remains beyond first-hand accounts. Most will tell you that this BUTTER flavored cereal was the most revolting thing they’ve ever eaten. It basically amounted to small crunchy butter flavored balls which in no way went nicely with cold milk. Those unfortunate enough to have experienced this breakfast horror tell the story as one would recount a grisly battle – with hushed somber tones, a vacant stare, and an expression that belies the tragedy of it all. Our deepest respect to the poor souls who took a spoonful of Norman to their lips and lived to tell the tale.

Posted: 1st, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, The Consumer | Comments (6)


Miracle Appliances And The Desperate 1970s Women That Loved Them

WHEN mankind emerged from the primordial ooze that was that was the 1940s, homes began a rapid upgrade.  The Western nations’ economies grew in tandem with technology, and the benefits began to enter the home in the form of appliances that promised to transform the household.  Now you could own a toaster  – oh, the possibilities!

 

vintage appliance (5)

 

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 31st, March 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Technology, The Consumer | Comment (1)


Bands Without a Face: When 70s Rock Stars Went Behind the Curtain

supertramp-

 

ANY clue who these guys are? They’re the band Supertramp.  If you didn’t know, it’s either because  you are way too young to appreciate this article or it’s due to the fact that  almost all Seventies rock acts looked relatively similar – like a generic group of hairy drug addicts.

Plus, it became “a thing” for Seventies rockers to shun the spotlight.  Whereas, for most of the 1960s it was just a given that your album cover would feature a photograph of the band, in the 1970s, something changed…

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 26th, March 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comments (2)


A History Of Controversial Children’s Books: Sex, Sambo And Obscene Rebellion

ANORAK’s history of controversial children’s books: sex, drugs, sambo’s gay lover and anti-authoritarianism in the classroom.

 

The Little Red Schoolbook

 

Book1

 

In 1971 the proprietor of Stage 1 publishers was found guilty of having in his possession obscene books for publication for gain. Richard Handyside was fined £25 on each summons and ordered to pay £110 costs.

The obscene publications were copies of The Little Red Schoolbook written by two Danish schoolteachers, Søren Hansen and Jesper Jensen – and then rewritten by a group of British adults and schoolchildren, including a young Hilary Benn. It urged young readers to question authority and challenge social conventions, and described adults as ‘paper tigers’. Pupils were encouraged to disrupt lessons that they found boring.

The book was widely regarded as an invitation to anarchy, and it was banned in Italy and France. An abridged version was eventually passed for publication in the UK, but it had by this time achieved considerable notoriety. Ironically, the main area of contention was not the political message, but the section giving basic sex education and advice – particularly concerning masturbation – most of which would be on the school curriculum these days. This was of course the convenient pretext chosen the DPP in order to suppress a book that they regarded as socially subversive.

An extraordinary documentary can be heard here.

 

 

Noddy

Enid Blyton is by no means the only venerable authoress to find her books falling out of favour as popular opinion changes over the decades, as Richmal Crompton will have known only too well.

 

Book2

 

She remains the most high-profile example, however, thanks to her ‘Gollywog’ series, which related the adventures of Golly, Woggy and Nigger, who liked nothing better than to stride along, in Blyton’s own words, ‘arm-in-arm, singing merrily their favourite song – which, as you may guess, was “Ten Little Nigger Boys”.’ These books are not currently available in most children’s libraries

More famous are her Noddy books, in which they feature once again. In one particularly pointed incident, Noddy is attacked by golliwogs, who steal his car and leave him stranded.

 

Book2b

 

Luckily the Toyland police were very efficient, and always at hand.

 

Book3

 

Not all gollies are bad, though. In Golly Town we find a Mr Golly, who is one of Noddy’s best friends. He owns Toyland’s garage, looks after Noddy’s car, and is an all-round bloody good bloke, as this picture proves…

 

Book4

 

 

 

The Tale of Little Black Sambo

 

Book5

 

 

Another former staple of junior school libraries that fell out of favour (though it remains popular in Japan). In 1996, Fred Marcellino produced a set of new pictures, renamed the characters, and republished it under the title The Story of Little Babaji.

 

Book6

 

 

Tintin

Book7

 

One could be charitable and say that Hergé’s most controversial Tintin adventure merely represented the condescending views of Belgian (and British) society at the time.

 

Book8

Book9

 

Post-war, they seemed anachronistic and offensive, portraying as they did a nation of stupid, lazy, infantile savages in need of a clever white master. The book quickly fell out of favour (and out of print).

 

 

The Brave Cowboy

Book10

 

A similar trick was pulled with Joan Walsh Anglund’s charming best-seller, in which scary ‘Indians’ were removed and replaced by white bankrobbers and other ne’er-do-wells.

 

Book11

 

 

Jenny Lives With Eric and Martin

Book12

 

This otherwise unremarkable tale relates the everyday life of five-year-old Jenn, who lives with her dad and his boyfriend.

In 1986 it was reported that the book was in the library of a school run by the Labour-controlled Inner London Education Authority, and this was a major factor in the Tory government passing Section 28 of the Local Government Act, which prohibited the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality. The full, bizarre story can be found here

 

And Tango Makes Three

Book13

 

This modern-day ‘Jenny’, based on a true story about two ‘gay’ penguins in New York’s Central Park Zoo has the distinction of having had the most had the most ban requests in the USA in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. In 2009 it came second.

‘It’s regrettable that some parents believe reading a true story about two male penguins hatching an egg will damage their children’s moral development,’ said co-author Justin Richardson. ‘They are entitled to express their beliefs, but not to inflict them on others.’

Posted: 28th, February 2014 | In: Books, Flashback, Key Posts | Comment


Classic Books: Peggy Treadwell’s The Working Couple’s Cookbook

working couple's cookbook

 

IN this study of 1970s life, we look at Peggy Treadwell’s The Working Couple’s Cookbook (1971). In the go-ahead 1970s of free love and wife swapping parties, the book was aimed at not only wives and husbands but “roomates, soulmates, playmates, or wedded mates”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 18th, February 2014 | In: Flashback, The Consumer | Comment


70s Rock Bands: When It Was Cool To Look Homeless

Lynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd in their Sunday best

 

FOR some reason, it became a thing of pride for 1970s rock musicians to look as homeless and ungroomed as humanely possible. We may have chided the ’90s grunge bands for wallowing in filth, but that was nothing compared to the unwashed hordes of unkempt ’70s rock bands.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 10th, February 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comments (2)


10 Dream Jobs For 1970s Men

CONSIDER me your 1970s guidance counsellor. I’m not going to recommend civil engineering or medical school. Those careers are all well and good, but save them for the 1980s when it’s all about the paycheck.  No, we’re smack dab in the Twilight Zone (AKA the 70s) when the Baby Boomers are breaking out on their own, the sexual revolution is in full swing, drugs are highly encouraged, and blue collar is king. If you’re a man and want to enjoy the 1970s to their fullest extent, take heed of my advice.  Choose one of these career paths, and all will be groovy.

 

10.  Fitness Instructor

fitness instructor

 

It doesn’t matter that you have no idea what you’re doing – when it comes to physical fitness, no one does. It’s the seventies – they don’t even know how to pronounce “jogging” –

 Veronica and I are trying this new fad called uh, jogging. I believe it’s jogging or yogging. It might be a soft j. I’m not sure but apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It’s supposed to be wild.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 30th, January 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts | Comment (1)


The 15 Most Depressing Songs of the 1960s and 70s

THE LATE 1960s to mid-70s were a manic depressive time period in music, populated by exultant highs and soul crushing lows.  The highs came in the form of disco and bubblegum pop via ABBA, The Bee Gees and their ilk.  The lows came in the form of devastating testaments to inner sadness and existential rage.  Perhaps it was Vietnam, recreational heroin use, and an economy that was in the crapper that caused such a swell in depressing anthems.  Who knows?  What is known is that this time period was fertile ground for misery put to melody, and whittling them down to a list of 15 was a daunting task indeed, but here goes….

 

15. “All By Myself” by Eric Carmen

Eric+Carmen+-+All+By+Myself+-+LP+RECORD-284586

Livin’ alone
I think of all the friends I’ve known
But when I dial the telephone
Nobody’s home

It’s not so much the lyrics as the morose delivery under a melody lifted from Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto  No. 2.  Carmen sounds so deeply depressed that you half expect to hear a gunshot at the end of the song.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: 21st, January 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comments (8)